


In Full Color

by UnderwhelmingAlchemist



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bucky Barnes Dies, I promise, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Soulmates, but not in detail, mild rivals to lovers, not angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:40:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27181240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderwhelmingAlchemist/pseuds/UnderwhelmingAlchemist
Summary: The world is black and white until one kisses their soulmate, when it suddenly explodes into color. Steve knows who is soulmate is for a long time, but it takes time to kiss him. Then, when he finally does, it doesn't last. Not for long.Decades later, he meets Tony Stark.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 3
Kudos: 81





	In Full Color

Steve Rogers thought he’d be colorblind for the rest of his life.

He knew from the moment he saw Bucky that he was his soulmate. He watched the boy from the grade above him throw a punch, taking out the kid that had been pummeling him a second earlier and giving him a bloody nose. Then he’d given him that brilliant smile with the missing tooth and hauled him to his feet, introducing himself as Bucky Barnes as he draped his arm over his neck and hauled him to the nurse’s office despite his protests. He was only eight at the time, but the way that grin made him feel was hard to deny. 

He’d come home from school that day and eagerly told his Ma about the boy he’d met, and before he could tell her about all the plans he’d come up with to convince him to kiss him, she’d cut him off. He’d never forget how pale her face was. He didn’t understand why she was so scared at the time. He’d never seen a boy kiss a boy before, but he couldn’t come with a reason why it would be a problem. But up until that point, he’d never seen his Ma so scared. Even when he was on the edge of death she put on a brave face. But right then she looked petrified. She’d told him in no uncertain terms that the boy he’d met was not his soulmate, and he wasn’t going to tell anyone about it, and made it clear that if he did, he was going to be in danger. She’d looked so scared and so grave that despite his confusion, Steve agreed to do what she said. She’d reassured him that he probably wasn’t his soulmate anyways. People felt attraction or even fell in love with people who weren’t their soulmates all the time. 

So he believed her. He went through the remainder of his elementary school years still on the lookout for his soulmate, although as time went on, it became more and more apparent that he wasn’t about to find that outside person any time soon. In fact, he only grew more and more certain that the boy with the gap-toothed grin who’d quickly become his best friend was the one who could make his world explode into color if he only got the chance to kiss him. 

But Bucky seemed to have no interest in him. 

He was nine when he had to watch as Bucky got his first girlfriend. He was ten, and like most relationships at that age, it was purely out of curiosity and mirroring the adults around them. Bucky held her hand on the playground and she picked him flowers out of the sports field behind the school. 

The relationship lasted a week before they broke up because Bucky wanted to play with Steve instead of playing house with her. Well, “play” wasn’t the right term. It was more like sitting on the edge of the playground because he couldn’t run around or exert himself too much without bringing on an asthma attack. For the entire relationship, Steve watched them from the sidelines, wishing it were him holding his hand. 

The problem only got worse as time went on. Bucky got more girlfriends, his relationships getting more intense as he got older, although they never seemed to last long. His longest girlfriend lasted five months before they broke it off. After it ended, he’d made jokes about how Steve was the only one he’d stick with, and that he’d be with him ‘til the end of the line. Steve had laughed along with him, ignoring the way his heart beat against his ribcage hard enough that he was almost worried it would bruise. 

When Steve was eighteen, his Ma died. 

Bucky tried to convince him to come live with his family, and Steve had firmly insisted he could handle it on his own. But a year later they were moving in together into a tiny two-bedroom apartment with a combined kitchen and living room. It was tiny, but they could still barely afford that and food and medicine for Steve. 

But still, when Steve turned twenty, he managed to afford a bottle of whiskey. 

He remembered that night so clearly. Bucky had picked the lock on the door to the roof, so they’d headed up there with a blanket, the whiskey, and a cake Bucky had scraped together. They’d sat there on the roof, passing the bottle back and forth, eating cake and talking and laughing. The sun went down before long, and fireworks burst into the sky. Steve found himself staring at Bucky’s profile as he watched them, every flash of light illuminating his face. He looked absolutely gorgeous.

Then he turned to look at Steve, giving him that grin that had changed so little over the years. Maybe it was the whiskey, or the light on his face, or just the fact that he’d loved him since third grade. But whatever it was, it pushed him forwards, and his mouth connected with Bucky’s as his eyes closed.

For a moment, time froze. Steve’s heart beat far too fast, and he was hyperaware of everything. 

Bucky was still.

Then there was a calloused hand in his hair and one on his jaw, and Bucky seemed to soften into the kiss, pulling him closer. After a moment, his tongue flicked over Steve’s lips and he parted them eagerly. He made a soft noise as Bucky licked his way into Steve’s mouth. One hand went from his jaw to his hip, and he was pulling him onto his lap easily. 

They didn’t break apart until they were both out of breath. When they did, Steve slowly opened his eyes. 

A flash of color from the sky above tinted Bucky’s face red. 

The first words out of Bucky’s mouth? “Fuck you have pretty eyes.”

Steve laughed a little giddily, then draped his arms around Bucky’s neck and kissed him again. 

\----------------------------

Steve knew the exact moment Bucky hit the ground, because the snow and mountains below him lost all the blue and brown in them. A sob rose in his throat as he stared down at the monochrome scene below him. 

\----------------------------

Tony Stark drove Steve crazy. He was loud, arrogant, and all the worst qualities of Howard Stark rolled into one absolutely unbearable person. Every point he made turned into an argument, and he was always so smug and sure he was right. He had a habit of getting in his face as he taunted him, and his cologne always surrounded him, adding to the effect. He bit his lip when he was working in a way that drove him up a wall. 

Steve wanted to bend him over a table. 

And apparently Tony felt the same way. 

They were standing in Tony’s workshop. Steve’s arms were crossed over his chest, and Tony was about an inch away from him. Normally Steve had a good three inches on him height wise, but he could’ve sworn that Tony was making himself taller somehow. He was focusing more on whether or not Tony was standing on his toes than his words, despite watching his lips move as he made his point. Apparently he noticed he wasn’t paying attention, because his tone grew more and more agitated.

“Hey. Hey Capsicle. Are you listening to me?”

Then suddenly there was a fist grabbing the collar of his shirt, and Tony yanked him down so their noses bumped together. “Hey. I know being this immobile stubborn asshole, but the least you can do is lis-”

Steve kissed him.

It was hard and rough and Tony immediately responded, letting go of his shirt and grabbing at his hair instead. Steve pressed closer, pushing his tongue into his mouth. As he pulled back slightly to breathe, Tony bit his lower lip with a groan. Steve drew in a sharp breath and opened his eyes-

-And was greeted with the tan of Tony’s skin and the red flush on his cheeks and the fact that Tony’s hair was dark brown instead of black like he’d though. 

He immediately stumbled backwards, eyes wide. Tony’s eyes, a lovely shade of brown, opened as well, and he blinked a few times before it seemed to hit him what had just happened. 

“What the actual fuck.”

Steve’s heart was pounding. No. Tony was not his soulmate. Bucky was. Bucky Barnes, who he’d loved all his life. Who he still loved. Who he’d always love. Tony was just some asshole he had sexual tension with. 

On the bright side, Tony seemed just as shaken as Steve was. His eyes were the size of dinner plates and he was looking around the room like he’d suddenly been transported to a different universe. That wasn’t too surprising, though. Tony was in his early forties and he’d never seen colors before, and while the lab wasn’t too colorful, mostly being varying shades of white and grey, it was still probably a lot to take in. He must have had an external designer pick the colors, because the coordination was too impressive to be solely attributed to somebody who couldn’t see in anything but shades of grey. 

Steve looked over at where the armor stood in the corner. It was a brilliant red and gold. He had a feeling Tony had just told JARVIS to pick the flashiest colors that still looked somewhat good together for the sake of impressing whatever portion of the population could actually see the colors. Which made a lot of sense. Leave it to Tony Stark to go out of his way to make everything in his life flashy even when he couldn’t actually benefit from it. 

And the same man that had done that was apparently his soulmate. 

His second soulmate. 

Was that even possible?

He turned his attention back to Tony, who was now staring at him looking… Well, it was hard to say. He definitely looked angry, but there was something else mixed in there with it. Was it fear? He’d never seen Tony afraid before. He’d fought with him before, but his face was always hidden behind the helmet’s face plate. Even when he’d opened his eyes after almost dying, he seemed more stunned and relieved than anything. But now he looked absolutely terrified in addition to seeming like he wanted to rip Steve’s head off. 

“Get the fuck out.”

For once, Steve didn’t argue. He just stared at him for a long moment, then turned and quickly walked out. SHIELD and Tony had decided it was a great idea to turn Stark Tower into the Avengers Tower, and Steve had just been living in SHIELD housing before, so this was a step up. He had an entire floor to himself, which he found excessive, but right then he was glad for the space. 

Once he was alone on his floor, he started pacing, his thoughts racing at a mile a minute.

Bucky was his soulmate. 

When he kissed Bucky, he saw colors. 

When Bucky died, he lost that sight.

When he kissed Tony, he saw colors again.

Tony was his second soulmate.

There was no denying the facts, not when he was staring at the clashing colors of his living room. He’d picked the furniture from thrift stores because it was comfortable, and now he was regretting not bringing someone else along, because good god were the colors in his room a mess. 

Tony Stark was a pain in his ass. But there were some good things about him. He seemed genuinely passionate about his work, and he was willing to sacrifice himself to save New York. He had a smile that was both infuriating and oddly charming. They’d learned to get along somewhat during their time being forced to work together, but they weren’t exactly friends.

And he wanted to kiss him all the time. But not in the way he wanted to kiss Bucky. 

With Bucky it had been a strong admiration and love, and he wanted to climb on his lap and kiss him breathless. With Tony he wanted to grab him and slam him against a wall, bite his lip and grab his hair, hear him make noises of arousal as he worked, spending the entire time in a battle for dominance that he’d inevitably win. 

How was he supposed to love somebody he could barely get along with?

He collapsed onto the couch, which was apparently a deep maroon, and stared up at the ceiling for a minute. 

This was going to be a challenge. 

\----------------------------

It was another week before he saw Tony. 

He’d eventually gathered up the courage to face Tony and the fact that there really was no denying that he was his soulmate. So he headed down to the workshop, fully prepared for an argument. He punched in his code to the workshop, the one that was supposed to be for emergencies, and stepped in. 

He didn’t see Tony immediately. It took him a minute of looking around before he found him in a chair at his workbench, slumped over the table, fast asleep. He was snoring softly, and there was a nearly empty bottle of whiskey and what looked like a part of some mechanical whatchamacallit Steve didn’t actually understand. He sighed as he watched him sleep, the knot in his chest loosening slightly. He didn’t have to have the hard conversation just yet. 

But he couldn’t just leave him there, right?

He studied him for a minute before reaching down to run a hand through his dark hair. It was surprisingly soft beneath his touch. “Stark. Come on, you have to get up.”

Tony made a soft noise in his sleep at the touch, but didn’t move.

“Stark.”

Nothing.

Steve sighed, looking up at the camera in the corner. “JARVIS?”

“Yes, Captain Rogers?”

“If I take Tony upstairs, will you let me into his penthouse? Just to put him to bed.”

JARVIS seemed to consider this for a moment, then spoke again. “Of course.”

“Thank you.” Steve slid his arms under Tony and lifted him bridal style, holding him close. He fully expected him to wake up and get pissed off at the fact that he was holding him. Instead, his snores hitched and he turned his head to press his face into Steve’s chest. 

Huh.

Steve carried Tony into the elevator, watching him as he stood with him in his arms. There was something oddly endearing about the way he cuddled up to him and snored softly. It made him feel… something. He wasn’t sure what. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to be feeling that something.

After a minute, the elevator dinged open, and Steve stepped into his penthouse. It had been remodeled since he’d last been inside. He’d never been past the main room either. JARVIS had to give him directions to his room. 

He made his way to the bedroom and lay Tony down on the absolutely massive bed. He tried to cling to Steve was he was laid down, but his grip wasn’t very tight, and it was easy enough to separate himself from him. He pulled off Tony’s shoes and set them beside the bed, and as an afterthought, pulled a blanket up over his body.

Then, thinking about the bottle of whiskey beside where Tony had laid his head, he headed to the bathroom. He found a bottle of Tylenol in the cabinet and put it on the nightstand, then retrieved a water bottle from the kitchen and placed it beside it. He considered leaving a note, then decided against it. Tony didn’t need to know that he was there. 

He spared one last glance at the snoring man on the bed, then headed back to the elevator.

\----------------------------

Steve wasn’t actually expecting to have to face Tony so soon after carrying him to bed. 

New York City was great for a lot of things, but going for runs in the morning was not one of them. There were always too many people for his taste. Usually he managed to make his way to the park, go for a run for about an hour, and head back home before it got too congested. That day the park ended up getting crowded earlier than usual, and he headed back home with more pent up energy than usual. 

Which is why he found himself in the Tower’s communal gym, trying to burn off the remainder of his energy with a specially reinforced punching bag. 

Steve’s fists collided with the bag, landing blow after blow, putting all his strength behind it. The bag swung dangerously. One last blow connected, and the bag went flying, hitting the wall and slumping down against it. The reinforcement meant it didn’t split, and Steve was thankful he didn’t have to clean it up. He guessed that was one of the benefits of working out at a gym made specifically for the Avengers. Everything was built to last. 

“Jesus, what did that bag ever do to you?”

Steve definitely didn’t jump. No, he very calmly took the voice into stride and turned to face its owner, who definitely wasn’t biting back laughter. 

“What is it, Stark?” His voice came across as a little colder than he’d intended. 

“We should probably talk.”

Steve sighed, walking over to the bench to sit down and unwrap his knuckles. Tony followed him over. For once he was taller than him, actually having to look down instead of up. 

“What do you want?”

“Last night. You carried me to bed.”

Steve frowned in confusion. “How’d you know that?”

“I woke up in bed and the last thing I remember was drinking and working on a part for the suit. I seriously doubt drunk me is responsible enough to put a project down and go to bed. So I asked JARVIS.”

“Right. Sure.” Steve set aside the wrappings and looked up at Tony. “What about it?”

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why did you do it?”

Steve’s frown deepened. “I wasn’t just going to leave you passed out in your lab.”

Now it was Tony’s turn to look confused. “Why?”

“Why… would I not leave you in an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situation?”

“Yeah. Why.”

“Because I like to think I’m not a terrible person?”

“I thought you didn’t like me.”

Steve paused, choosing his next words carefully. “I don’t _not_ like you.”

Tony looked surprised. “You don’t?”

“No. You can be a hard person to get along with, and there’s a lot of things about you that are hard to deal with. We argue all the time, and you drive me crazy sometimes. But there are good moments too. And you’re my teammate,” Steve explained. “Just because we don’t agree on everything doesn’t mean I don’t like you.” 

Tony nodded grimly, his lips pressed into a thin line. “I don’t not like you either.”

“Well that’s good, because apparently we’re soulmates.”

“You think the universe made a mistake?”

“Maybe. But it could’ve ended up a lot worse.”

“I guess you’re right.” Tony gave Steve a little smile, which he returned. 

“So… what are we going to do?” Steve questioned. 

Tony considered the question for a minute, then dropped himself onto Steve’s lap. “We could start with this.” Before Steve had a chance to question it, he’d leaned in and pressed his lips to Steve’s, effectively claiming his mouth for a long minute. It was different from their first kiss, lacking the heat and the biting and tongues. When he pulled away, he wasn’t startled by the melted chocolate brown of Tony’s eyes. He really was an attractive man.

“You know this isn’t going to solve all our problems, right? I’m not going to agree with everything you say, and we’re probably not going to stop arguing.”

“Yeah, and I’m not going to just get over the fact that my soulmate is apparently the guy my asshole dad never shut up about. Or that I hated you for most of my life. But at least now I can kiss you to shut you up whenever you get annoying. Last argument we had could’ve ended a lot differently if it weren’t for the whole ‘suddenly seeing colors’ thing. There’s really no way to prepare for that.”

“No, there isn’t.” 

“You taken the time to learn all the names of the colors yet? I mean, there’s the main ones, like red and blue and yellow. But then there’s things like indigo and maroon. And you’re expected to pick a favorite.”

“I did all that a long time ago.”

Tony frowned. “What?”

Oh, right. Tony didn’t know. “…I had another soulmate before. He died. Everything went black and white again.”

“So you had two soulmates. One for each century.”

“I guess I did.”

“Who was it?”

Steve paused. “…Bucky Barnes.”

Tony didn’t seem surprised. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“It does?”

“If it was anyone, it was going to be him.”

Steve nodded. “So… does it bother you?”

“That you had another soulmate like seventy years ago? Not really.” 

Steve smiled a little. “Good. One less problem we need to work through.”

“So we’re good?”

“As good as we can be.”

“Great. Now I’m really curious. What exactly would you have done if we didn’t get interrupted by the whole ‘soulmates’ thing?”

Steve’s smile turned to a lopsided grin. “How about I show you?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! And thanks to Jay and tumblr users Tuiccim and Jamesbchnnn for beta reading! 
> 
> Let me know if you would be interested in a follow-up smut chapter between Tony and Steve
> 
> I always really appreciate feedback, so if you have any of that, let me know.


End file.
